Interesting - from the Martin Luther
German Bible of 1534 Leviticus 18:22
Du sollst nicht beim Knaben liegen wie beim
Weibe; denn es ist ein Greuel.
Translation
22 You shall do not lie with boys as with
women; for it is and abomination
Notice men or homosexual is not mentioned.
The issue was child molesters, not homosexuality when Leviticus was
written and inspired.
Leviticus 20:13 same Bible
13 Wenn jemand beim Knaben schläft wie beim
Weibe, die haben einen Greuel getan
und sollen beide des Todes sterben; ihr Blut
sei auf ihnen.
Translation
13 If anyone sleeps with boys as with women, they
have committed an abomination
and shall both die; their blood be upon them. Again boys, no men, not homosexual, none of
that.
Another often-quoted scripture is 1
Corinthians 6:9
9 Wisset ihr nicht, daß die Ungerechten das
Reich Gottes nicht ererben werden? Lasset euch nicht
verführen! Weder die Hurer noch die
Abgöttischen noch die Ehebrecher noch die Weichlinge noch
die Knabenschänder
9 Don't you know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Don't let yourself seduce! Neither the fornicators, nor the idolaters, nor the adulterers, nor the
sissy, nor the boy molesters
Boy molesters, not Homosexual.
Gutenberg Bible is the same. This goes
back also to the translation of other older copies of the Bible
Even if malakoi doesn’t
necessarily refer to same-sex behavior, doesn’t the fact that Paul places it
next to the term arsenokoitai make that meaning more likely?
The term arsenokoites (the
singular form) comes from two Greek words: arsen, meaning “male,” and koites,
meaning “bed.” Those words appear together in the Greek translation of Leviticus 20:13, leading some to speculate
that Paul coined the term arsenokoites in order to condemn
same-sex behavior.
But as New Testament scholar Dale Martin has written, “The only
reliable way to define a word is to analyze its use in as many different
contexts as possible.”
After Paul’s apparent coinage of the term,
most subsequent uses of it in ancient literature appear only in lists of vices.
As Martin has shown, those contexts indicate that the word likely relates to
sexual or economic exploitation. So while that may involve same-sex behavior,
it would be exploitative forms of it, not loving relationships.
But isn’t it possible that Paul used malakoi and arsenokoitai together
to condemn both the active and passive partners in male same-sex relations?
There were many word pairs in common use in
ancient literature to describe both the active and passive partners in male
same-sex relations—words like erastes and eromenos,
for example. Malakoi and arsenokoitai, however,
were not used as a pair by other ancient writers.
Moreover, even if Paul had intended to condemn
both partners in male same-sex relations, it’s critical to remember the major
gap between same-sex behavior as it was practiced in ancient societies—where it
was based on status, power, and lust—and committed same-sex unions today.
Some Bible translations render malakoi and arsenokoitai as
“homosexuals,” but that term wasn’t even coined until 1869 in German and 1892 in English
Still more disturbing is
Now, the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
is, according to the National Council of Churches,
the “authorized revision of the American Standard Version, published in 1901,
which was a revision of the King James Version, published in 1611.”
This is important to know, because the actual
word “homosexual” appears for the first time on February 11, 1946, in the
Revised Standard Version. In it, their translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9, they
substitute the word “homosexual” for the Greek words “malakoi” and
“arsenokoitai.”
America is still the only country in the World
that requires the Bible printers to use the word "Homosexuals" and
not the actual accepted translated words.
This gives me a lot of pauses when the Extreme
right of Christians condemn anything. I understand and accept that
this might be repugnant to a wide swath of Christians, but to force a change
and reinterpretation of the Bible to fit a specific agenda is wrong, sinful,
and not Christian at all.
This is just my humble opinion. There
are so many other parts that are used to preclude those of communities that are
outside the mainstream that the National Council of Churchs has decided needed
to be changed in the Bible to exclude them. This is why we should change
our thinking to follow Jesus and his teaching and not worship him.
Following his teachings mean inclusion, harmony compassion, and understanding.
Those are four of the hardest things for us humans to do. It is far
easier to Worship someone as it does not require us to give up our hate and our
desire to exclude others.
